2011 WILLOW CUP ROUND 1: Titans -V- Dragons

[Jesbass]

Gold Coast Titans (2) -V- St George Dragons (5)​

-V-

Game Thread:
* This is a game thread only. Only game posts can be made here - team lists, substitutions, and articles.
* Any other posts may result in loss of points and is at the discretion of the referee.
* Only original articles, not used in previous games, will be marked by referees.

Naming Teams:
* 3 -V- 3 (+ 4 reserves for each team)
* No 'TBA' or changing players named
* Captains must stick with original teams named

Rules: http://forumsevens.com.au/rules.php
Official Word Counter: http://forumsevens.com.au/wordcount.php

Kick Off: Sunday 29th May 2011 (2100AEST)
Full Time: Saturday 4th June 2011 (2100AEST)
Referee: LeagueNut
Venue: Front Row Stadium

NOTE: The winner of this match will play the Newtown Bluebags (1) in Round 2.

 

[Titanic]

Huzzah, it's that joyfull time of the year again. The brook is babbling, anglers tease their prey with tiny morsels on delicate string, the little wooden boat is nestled near the earthen bank under a rustling willow and fresh from Toad Hall, here come the Titans:

6. tits&tans
11. Titanic
18. lockyno1

Bench
1. Amadean
2. Tittoolate
7. Titan Uranus
9. bgdc

 

[Drew-Sta]

The mighty Saints roll up to play despite looking a little dusty from last nights big'un.

Run On:
1. Drew-Sta (C)
2. Cheesie-the-Pirate
3. muzby

Reserves:
4. _Johnsy
5. Jason Maher
6. Breathing Fire
7. DragonPunk

 

[Drew-Sta]

Drew-Sta takes the field in style for the Dragons!

Red V Tube

John: And we’re crossing now to our reporter on the streets, Ken. Are you there Ken?

(In the background as they cross to Ken, you can hear the almost deafening sounds of an angry, riotous crowd)

Ken: (Shouting) I am John. It’s crazy down here.

John: Ken, describe the scene. Can you tell us who is there?

Ken: Certainly John. As you can see to our left, we have the SDSWYMIU, or the Stop Defending So Well You’re Making It Unfair group.

John: Who are they and what do they represent?

Ken: They’re a united front, John. There’s jersey’s from all over the country and supporters from all different teams. Melbourne, Wests, Parramatta, Souths. I think all teams supporters are here John and they’re not happy.

John: Exactly what are they protesting against?

Ken: Well as you can see John, their placards are fairly descriptive. “Stop the pain”, “Break down the wall” and I think I see even a “Think of the children” sign.

(John sticks his finger in his ear due to how loud Ken has to shout to be heard over the deafening crowd)

John: Who are they protesting against?

Ken: They’re protesting the disgustingly good defence of the St George Illawarra Dragons. These groups have all banded together and are saying enough is enough, we can’t let our kids see this anymore.

(A woman with no front teeth and wearing a South Sydney jersey pushes up against Ken)

Ken: John, we have Wendy here who is the leader of this revolt. What do you have to say for the group, Wendy?

Wendy: It’s just not on anymore. We can’t stand watching them. It’s disgusting behaviour and disgusting game play. Their defence is too good. Rugby league is supposed to be entertainment, it’s supposed to be good to watch. But sometimes teams go too far with their defence. It’s just vile. It’s worse than drugs.

Ken: So what do you plan to achieve with this protest?

Wendy: We want to show the NRL and David Gallop that enough is enough. Do you know what I found my son doing the other day? He was watching St George highlights! It’s just disgusting. I thought he was watching porn like a normal kid but no, he was watching Matt Cooper holding out Dave Tyrell from scoring. I mean, that’s just foul. We can’t have our kids watching things like that. They should be watching rugby league to see the tries scored, not the defence. Do you know what he called them Ken?

Ken: What did he call them Wendy?

Wendy: He called them footballing porn, Ken. Footballing porn. *Tears in her eyes and wavering voice* It’s not fair Ken, I raised my kids to be good South Sydney supporters, to follow the Red and Green. But they’re following Saints now because they’re so good. It’s not fair.

Ken: There you have it John, St George are so good they’re footballing porn. Absolutely amazing how the rugby league landscape has changed.

John: Who else is there Ken?

Ken: Well, to our right and looking particularly calm is the Dragon Army. Signs like “GST – Great St George Team” and “Everybody Loves Weyman” are floating about. Their leader, Peter, I think… yes, there he is. I’ll try and get a word with him.

(Cameraman follows Ken through the mass of humans and over to the Dragon Army)

Ken: Peter, Peter! Can you spare us a few minutes?

Peter: Of course, my good man. How are you?

Ken: Peter, what do you have to say about these heinous allegations? Your team has been called footballing porn for their defence. One might suggest their scintillating attack is in very much the same vein.

Peter: Look, Ken, we think that’s ridiculous. It’s just not true. Our side is simply performing the way any good side should.

Ken: Do you think it’s fair? Should the Dragons be allowed to play this good? Are they damaging the sport?

Peter: Of course not. We’re playing the game the way it was meant to be played.

Ken: There you go, John. From the horses mouth. Saints are playing the game the way it was meant to be played. We’ll keep you updated on how this situation pan’s out.

John: Thank you Ken. We’ll be back after this break.

Words: 748

 

[tits&tans]

tits&tans for the Titans with 747 words (OWC) between the stars ...

****************

Solacium

“So, lace up your boots and get moving!” our coach bellowed. It became his catchphrase and he must have shouted it thousands of times over the years. He yelled it at us during our training sessions and he roared it at us from the sidelines in matches. He hollered it in the changing rooms and howled it on our daily cross-country jogs.

In my youth, I played for the local Rotherham Rugby League team (imaginatively named the RRuLers). We weren’t great but we threw ourselves into, at, under, in front of and on top of any and all opposition and soon acquired a reputation for being a tactically simple, strategically predictable, but tough-as-bloody-nails bunch. Amidst all of this violence, shouting, blood and injuries, there was a peculiarly lighter side to our club. Through the long-term coach, the club had amassed one of largest collections of shoelaces in the county. No-one really knows how or why he started this, but it soon reached the point where no-one longer dared ask. I don’t think it helped that his name was actually James Stringer!

It is as difficult to determine the exact history of shoelaces as it is for shoes, but I think Stringer tried. There used to be a sad display in the clubhouse about the history of this unassuming item that tried to convince its viewer of the shoelace’s fundamental importance to all civilization and in particular to the sport of rugby. Indeed, as the display’s title used to say: “Shoelaces: the strings that bind us together”. Stringer spent many of his training briefings laboriously explaining and lecturing on the fuzzy history of footwear. We all soon, unintentionally, learned that archaeological records of footwear are rare because shoes were made of materials that deteriorated readily. We could all describe one of the earliest shoes (3500 BC), which was a simple leather "shoe" with leather "shoelaces" passing through slotted "eyelets" cut into the hide.

We accidentally learned that shoe bindings that resembled today’s didn’t arrive until around the 12th century and that the aglet is name of the taped end of a shoelace. He also expounded upon the phenomenal factoid that there are almost two trillion ways to lace a shoe with six pairs of eyelets, of which he must have taught us at least half during his mind-numbingly fascinating “lace lessons”. To his credit, our laces never ever came undone and my feet have never felt so comfortable and supported since.

As a kid, I never really like our coach. I respected his coaching ability but always found him either too angry or too boring. We only ever saw him a few times off the field, and he was a totally different person. We never saw the passion he displayed in his lace lessons, just an emptiness and sense of lethargy. People said he had suffered great loss throughout his life and only the club was kept him going. As kids though, we just continued grumbling among ourselves every time he screamed his catchphrase.

Until very recently I hadn’t thought about old Stringer at all since my youth, so it was surprising that he was one of the images that appeared in my mind when I experienced a recent death in the family. I tried drinking heavily. I tried intense exercise, and I tried bouts of solitude up in the back country. The only thing I found that eased the pain slightly was to indulge in 80 minutes of rugby league. I didn’t need to actually play the game to feel swept up in the wave of positive emotion from the game. The loyalty and love that fans bared nakedly for all to see helped. It was easy to be transported away from the ache and emotion and become caught up in the violence, shouting, blood and injuries of the game. This was the comfort and relief that helped soothe the pain. This was the solace I had been searching for. It was during the period of reflection after the subsidence of the chaos and emotion that I began to think more about him.

Indeed, it was the thought that such violent sporting behaviour could be a solace that took me back to my RRuLer days. I began to think about Stringer in a different light. Perhaps his bizarre collection and his passion thereof had been his method of relief; had been his solace. Perhaps he had actually been shouting:

“Solace! Up your boots and get moving!”

****************

 

[Titanic]

the willowy figure of Titanic for the Titans (750 OWC)
-----------------------------

Words at War

Colourful yet appropriate language is an art form.

Remnants of many fine rugby league traditions are still clung to tenuously through the diligence of hardcore supporter groups. The resurgence of brass bands, drumming troupes and dare I mention ye olde vuvuzelas are fanning the dying embers of community involvement. Innovative signage personifying a fans fervor, underpins the excitement and atmosphere of live rugby league; case in point "Sweet & Soward".

These are but skerricks of days gone past when rugby league had a unique stentorian voice, not the irreverent abuse to which we are now subjected. Who can extract the slightest semblance to scholarly wit from “git orf ‘im, he’s not ya mutha” or the suggestive “get that up ya, ya wanka”? Modern-day rugby league is all the worse for its perceived lack of class. Always the working man’s game but never a haven for academic endeavour, our great game arguably suffers from the dumbing-down of the English language and its resultant abuse.

The late, legendary Stephen “Yabba” Gascoigne was a Rabbitoh in both senses of the word. Better known as cricket’s “voice from the Hill”, Yabba brought humour to the sports fraternity, providing comic relief at a time when distractions from the Depression were as rare as a Wayne Bennett chortle.

A larrikin famous for such quips as “I wish you were a statue and I was a pigeon”, Yabba summed it up during a rare interview when he said, “I’ve been barracking for 45 years. The men who can’t stand up to it oughtn’t be in the game.” How right he was. How right he is, yet in these days of political correctness creativity can be rewarded by some hefty penalties, unless our stakeholders can reclaim their command of the erudite.

Recently, the LU Chronicle took it upon itself to eavesdrop on some conversations between prominent rugby league identities and discovered, surprisingly, that wit was not dead within the ranks of the sport.

A recent exchange at Jupiter’s Casino where a local female Labour candidate admonished Greg Bird with “if you were my husband I’d give you poison” ended abruptly when she received the glib retort of “if you were my wife, I’d drink it.” Touché.

Referees boss Bill Harrigan was overheard to rant after embattled Gold Coast Titans coach again used “bad luck” as the reason for his teams poor season, “I have never killed a man but I have read many death notices with great pleasure.” Cartwright, not to be outdone, politely stated, “Bill has delusions of adequacy.” The Titans can look forward to a long season.

Peter Parr of the North Queensland Cowboys was caught off guard when he was asked about the veracity of his comment towards serial loudmouth Willie Mason’s switch to rugby union. He evidently had enthused, “he is a self-made man and loves his creator.” This fuelled a brusque reply from “Mace” who expressed his disdain for the tropical CEO with a damning, “I feel so miserable without him; it’s almost like having him here.” Ouch.

The exact nature of the very public spat between Parramatta’s Nathan Hindmarsh and the Bulldogs’ Michael Ennis has at last been uncovered. The “Menace” has been reliably quoted as having retorted to Hindmarsh’s barb of “you will either die from your own foot in your mouth or of some unspeakable disease” by retaliating with “that depends on whether I tackle your idiocy or your mistress.” Fighting words indeed.

It just goes to show that there is life in the old girl after all. I suppose this exposé of our players’ rapier-like wit raises the question, why does the press spend so much time reporting misdemeanors when there are so many more intriguing aspects of our sport to write about?

Perhaps it’s in the make-up of the individual scribes. The late Jack Gibson, a master of jingoisms, once commenting on sports journalism, suggested that “they never have been known to use words that might send a reader to the dictionary.” Pillar of rugby league gentry John Sattler, exasperated when asked for the umpteenth time by a newshound about his grand final heroics, offered, “you are not only dull; you are the cause of dullness in others.”

Rugby league needs good press and good press requires good language. Wordsmiths are few and far between but they are out there. Just ask David Gallop who was the recipient of this literary missile, “he uses statistics like a drunken man uses lamp-posts… for support rather than illumination.”
-----------------------------
Reference: http://lynnwalsh.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/remembering-yabba-a-sydney-cricket-ground-character/

And apologies to all those persons mis-quoted in this article of fiction.

 

[Cheesie-the-Pirate]

Cheesie-the-Pirate picks up the loose ball and runs headlong into the defence.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The JV

September 1998 was a monumental month in the history of rugby league. The joint venture agreement between the St George and Illawarra DRLFCs meant that from 1999 the two clubs would enter a single side in the National Rugby League competition under as the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Obviously this was an especially massive upheaval for rugby league football in the south suburbs of Sydney and in the Illawarra. Nobody needs to be reminded of the golden era of St George rugby league in the fifties and sixties.

Illawarra’s history in the NSWRL competition may have been short but Wollongong’s own rugby league competition traces back to 1910. From that time until the admission of the Steelers in 1982 the Illawarra region contributed players to the Sydney competition like the great Changa Langlands while others were able to earn New South Wales and Australian jerseys from the local league.

So the demise of these two historical regions as independent teams in the top flight competition was a very significant stage in the history of rugby league in general.

There were reasons why a joint venture between St George and Illawarra made sense; the red and white colours the teams shared, financial limitations of the Steelers and the access to Illawara juniors for Saints.

Still, there were probably more reasons why it shouldn’t work. For starters one half of the team was a district in Sydney and the other a regional centre. This was a challenge to identity that still exists today. Is the JV a Sydney club or a regional club? To make matters worse there was another club smack bang in the middle of the two joint venturers – the Sutherland Shire-based Sharks. In those early years building a team that the fans could relate to was key, yet somehow the new team seemed somewhat manufactured.

After the first season this confused identity was exassebated by a decision to abandon Kogarah Oval and play all Sydney games at Moore Park. Not for the first time in its history, the St George rugby league community could not enjoy professional rugby league in the district.

The other great challenge in the early years was periods where success was tantalisingly close yet seemingly unachievable. Everybody knows about 1999. Under the joint venture concessions imposed by the NRL St George Illawarra had a quality team made up of the best players from the Steelers and Dragons of 1998. The club made the grand final, indeed was in the lead not far from full time until that tackle, that penalty try. You know the story.

2005 was a similar story of promise yet failure. Ironically beaten in the preliminary final by the other joint venture outfit, a season of hope turned to ashes within 80 minutes. The Wests Tigers went on to win the big one in the following week, suggesting perhaps that the Dragons outfit had been outperformed by Wests in the race to form a successful formula for a joint venture powerhouse.

For a team that had suffered blows to its identity and confidence a lack of success on the field is a serious challenge. A club with self-assurance and meaning can use these as resources to make it through the bad times. The Dragons lacked somewhat in this area and the calls to Oust Doust and replace coach Nathan Brown caused serious division between the club and its fans.

Fortunately there is a remedy for a divided and perhaps even moribund club. Success. In 2009 Wayne Bennett brought new hope to to the club of achieving that which had alluded it, the premiership. 2009 showed promise but ultimately fell in a heap like 1999 and 2005. The disappointment was short-lived and 2010 provided what all Dragons fans desired, the allusive premiership. Now with 20,000 financial members and a general sense of unity and euphoria there’s a genuine feeling that the joint venture had achieved its goals and become a settled, cohesive unit.

Victory brings its own unique problems. Most obvious is the dispute between Saints fans and others whether this is the Sweet 16th or the debut win for the club. This is a question that will perhaps never be answered in a manner that satisfies all. Still, for Saints, for Illawarra and for St George Illawarra this is what we call a good problem.

The joint venture now has the self confidence to brush this aside and ask the important question: when can we make it number seventeen?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

750 words between the lines.

 

[Titanic]

Substitution
Due to unprecedented online gaming queues lockyno1 has been held up and bgdc will take his place. Sorry for any inconvenience to the Dragons or referee.

 

[bgdc]

Hurridly making up my face and taking a powder - bgdc saunters out for the Titans with 746 words and a gleam in her eye.
==================

What drives me?

In the life of every Rugby League fan, there comes a defining moment. It may happen when your team kicks a last-second field goal and you suddenly find yourself clenched in an otherwise embarrassing socially-unacceptable clinch with a very large hairy man you’ve never met. Or in the long, testosterone depleted days after a loss, as you’re crushed by a sensation similar to the one you first experienced following the death of a favorite pet. At such moments the League fan is forced to face the question others—spouses, friends, children, and workmates—have been asking me for years: Why do I care?

There are a rare few who really accept that “fan equals fanatic”, although the linguistic derivation is clear. Most would agree that wearing eclectic combinations of colours would not win any prize in the fashion stakes and that face painting would under any other circumstance belong in a pre-school class. However, even the tyranny of distance cannot prevail over the true fanatic. This could well describe the Cowboys, Raiders or Storm cliques and more importantly the mysterious phantom of the media known as “the grassroots”.

Psychologists attribute the attraction of being a League fan to a universal human need to be part of a group. Being a fan of a team is a very easy group to join. You have to refer to the team as ‘we’ and buy that team’s t-shirt and say ‘I’m a supporter’. A good argument, yet who would readily admit to being motivated by the “herd mentality”? Not the smoked salmon-set, you may argue, but peer pressure provides a huge incentive to join the herd. You aren’t a real Kiwi, Dee Whygian, Bondi-er or Red Hill-ite if you don’t follow the Warriors, Manly, Roosters or Brisbane”.

Some argue that most League fans’ feelings stem from instinctual behaviors developed during a more primitive time when human beings lived in small tribes, and warriors fighting to protect tribes were true genetic representatives of their people. Our modern heroes are our warriors. This is not some light diversion to be enjoyed for its inherent grace and harmony. The self is centrally involved in the outcome of the event. Whichever team you support represents you. There would be little argument from the Newcastle or Penrith mobs where even tainted and fallen heroes are regaled as champions and role models.

A closer inspection of the phenomena of League fans reveals some insight into the fixation of those who support long-term under-achieving teams. Fans who are subjected to constant disappointment find other, more meaningful payoffs. Long-suffering is not quite the right phrase, because at some level, I think we do like it. Why? Well, so much of the human condition is about striving. Supporting such perennial underdogs forces fans to identify with their teams in ways that go beyond wins and losses. Loyalty, an interest in team culture and history, and emotional resilience are often more important to fans of “cursed” teams than successful ones. No one can accuse you of being a fair-weather fan. You've creatively changed the dimensions of comparison to include not just the victory or the score, but measures of character. Familiar catch-cries for the South’s, Saints, West’s and Sharks supporters.

What better time of the year is there than pre-season? A heightened sense of hope wells up while never having to face the depths of depression caused by a loss. Our blind faith that the coach can extract something world-class from a player that nobody else wanted is an annual litany. Consider the expectation that the cowardly hulk will discover his courage just as the lion did along the fabled yellow brick road. Doggies and Eels fans are accustomed to this energizing start to a season only to see it crumble in a cloud of accusations and disappointment.

In answer to the original question, why do I care? I care because I’m a fan. An anticlimax? Hardly. I am all of the above and more. I’ll cry for the loss and cry for the win. I’ll paint my face, pull on my socks, jocks and comb my locks the same way after a win. I am a part of the herd and proud of it – who says no!

You might rightly point out that I haven’t mentioned the Titans and being a true believer I will finish with a quote from Les Brown: there are winners and there are those who haven't learnt how to win.
==================

 

[Willow]

That's full time folks...

 

[Titanic]

3v2 on a Saturday night but some bright reads on a short turnaround anyway.

Good luck Dragons and over to you ref.

 

[bgdc]

Now I can get back to washing my hair

 

[LeagueNut]

Good morning everyone


Drew-Sta (Dragons)
Red V Tube
721 words
Original idea and well written, but seemed to lack a certain “punch”.
78

Cheesie-the-Pirate (Dragons)
The JV
750 words
A solid history lesson, again lacking a “punch” factor. A quick spellcheck and proofread could have added a few more points to your score.
71


tits&tans (Titans)
Solacium
747 words
A good story which drew me in with a nicely descriptive style.
81

Titanic (Titans)
Words at War
750 words
A promising setup, but the execution didn’t quite hit the mark – it was confusing to hear those well-known quotes in a different context.
73

bgdc (Titans)
What drives me?
746 words
A nicely written answer to an eternal question we’ve all asked ourselves at some stage.
76


Titans 230 defeat the Dragons 149

POTM: tits&tans

 

[Titanic]

Well done Titans and thanks bgdc for stepping in at the very last minute.
Commiserations Dragons, see you in a few weeks.
Thanks ref for the timely marking.